Numerical Analysis of Gap-Size-Dependent Filling and Transport of ECM Surrogates in a Vertical Cell Culture Platform

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Vertical cell culture platforms are promising for scalable manufacturing. However, their performance is highly sensitive to the interplate gap, which controls free-surface filling, drainage, and wall shear. In this study, we performed transient two-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method on a platform initially filled with air and subsequently supplied with an extracellular matrix (ECM) surrogate to compare the three gap sizes. Diagnostics comprised a combination of volume fraction fields, inlet-seeded streamlines (air evacuation), and velocity-magnitude maps. Gap size strongly controlled air displacement and liquid routing: small gaps hindered slit penetration, forcing air bypass upward, and yielding rapid but laterally limited upper-chamber filling; large gaps reduced hydraulic resistance and generated early, bottom-impinging jets across multiple slits, thereby lowering the upper free surface but increasing local speeds/shear. Overall, intermediate gaps were more balanced. Therefore, the gap size defines a clear design tradeoff: small gaps favor gentle and uniform coverage, whereas large gaps favor efficient drainage and interlayer supply.